Picking Up The Pieces
by chibiwolf33
Summary: sequel to Grave of the Hopeless  After tragedy strikes, one brother struggles on his long road to recovery. Will he overcome his despair or succumb to it? And will what's left of the family be able to hold themselves together in the process?


**Ok, so yes, this is a sequel to my one-shot, which is called "Grave of the Hopeless". This fic takes place directly after the events of this story. Now, here's where I'm going to need a lot of input; I can't decide who the main character of this fic should be. So for this first chapter, it's going to be in a point of view that you can place any one of the boys in. For now, as you read, just kind of envision the turtle who you think this first little chappie is about. I'll leave another note at the bottom.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing. Never will.**

The only clear thing you can recall is the feeling of gravel embedded into the heels of your feet. The pain, the numbing pain, is the only thing that is an ever constant presence in this twisted and warped reality. You gain bits and pieces as your memory begins in a swirl of dark colors.

Adrenaline hits you hard, and knocks the wind out of you. You feel like a cornered animal, with no hope of any escape. You almost lose the pieces, but as long as your grip on the feeling of gravel holds, you know that you won't. The blend of colors is nearly black, and you doubt you could see your hand if you were holding it in front of your face. Suddenly, neon colors swim into your peripheral vision, and you hear the thumping of a heavy beat. Your heart matches it's tempo.

_Boomboomboom boomboomboom._

Over and over your heart beats, thumping and kicking, with high pitches erupting around you in the dark. You can feel a true, genuine fear turn the blood in your veins to ice. It keeps getting fuzzier and fuzzier, and it's getting harder and harder to hold on. But there are still those bits of gravel, keeping you tied down, but not lucid enough to make sense of anything. You know you're cold, and sticky too. Everywhere except your face is freezing. You can feel flames licking across your face, and you let a scream rip out from deep within your soul. There's a certain kind of heaviness in the air, and that combined with the fire helps you to break the surface. But what you see is what made you wish you were still in the void.

In front of you stands a demon. A big, terrifying demon. It looms above you, facing the opposite direction. In front of it are the faces of humans, and you try to scream for them to run, but you choke on something that tastes like iron. Shrill sounds are emitting from the demon and those it faces without mercy. It's like a mindless beast, not even conscious of its clumsy strikes and kills. You want to thrash about, to cover your eyes, but you're paralyzed; you can't even close your eyes to block the sight. So instead of listening to the awful sounds of the dying, you focus on your gravel. It's enough to take you back into the chasm, but this time, you're thankful. You almost release that feeling that keeps you tied to yourself, but it's only seconds before you do so that you realize that your brother was with you. That you had left your _brother _out there with a monster. Was he still alright? You muster up the strength to call out to him. "Otouto?" you say to the looming black in front of you. A wave of nausea sends you reeling when you hear a scraping noise, but it's quickly stomped out when you feel a familiar, shaking hand grip your own limp one. "I'm here, I'm here," your brother tells you. You feel as helpless as a kitten right now, so confused, so lost. "Did you get 'em?" you ask in a way that almost sounds timid to your ears. Your brother pauses for a moment, and for a moment you think that the demon is still hunting you, when he tells you, "They c-can't hurt y-y-you anymore." You sigh in relief, and feel yourself unconsciously loosen the ropes holding you to lucidity. Before you can lose it completely, you ask otouto, "Will you stay with me while I sleep?" He pauses once more, and you briefly wonder if he's wounded. "Yeah. I'll…. I'll never leave you," he says with a sense of finality.

All you can feel is warmth, and comfort, and you don't ever want to lose that feeling. You can feel your father in this place. You reach for him, but he rejects the embrace. "No," he tells you, "It is not your time yet, my son. Your brothers need you now more than ever." You fall back down hard and fast, back into your cold abyss, alone. You cry out for him, over and over, the agony in your heart unending. You want to go to him.

After that, you really only remember snippets of yelled words that you caught between your sobs. "Oh god- blood- home," one says. "Hurry- take- no- dead," says the other. But you don't care anymore, you just want to go home, to where your father is waiting for you. What can you possibly accomplish here when there's no demons where he lives?

And without you even noticing, you lose the feel of the gravel. It's gone, very fast, and leaves you with a sense of vertigo. "Losing him- shock!" screams the second voice. You feel a jolt once, and then you slide off the edge.

**Alrighty! So there's chapter one! Now, here's when I need your input: You can either PM me, or leave your opinion in a review about which turtles you think this was talking about. You don't have to, but it would be greatly appreciated. R&R please! Hope you enjoyed!**


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